Reviews by TG_Judgement

90

Return of a classic

One of the RTS classics alongside C&C & Starcraft, Age of Empires 2 is brought remastered on steam. Now supporting all HD resolutions, reworked terrain, water & building textures/sprites, it definitely looks better than it did a decade ago. Gameplay is left mostly untouched, with the only notable change being a pop cap increase to 500. Multiplayer is handled through steam, meaning (generally) more stable MP, but with the caveat that LAN got removed from this version.
The constant support and existing features makes this a version to get even if you still have your old copy laying around.

93

Best Total War since the first Shogun

Set in Feudal Japan,SHOGUN2 covers the "Segoku Jidai" war,or the war that had those famed samurais in it. In the campaign you play as one of the dozen or so of clans,and the objective is to become the titular SHOGUN.On the campaign map,you get to develop your cities,deploy agents,or deploy your army and engage others in real time battles(campaign map is turn-based)Battle maps act as your standard RTS affair,with rock-paper-scissors components & tactics defining how it plays out.
In multiplayer,you can either play pre-defined battles,custom battles,Campaign co-op (or drop-in into battles on other people's campaign) or develop your own custom made MP general and fight others in a special MP campaign map.
Graphically,it looks pretty great,and runs on even a minimally modern machine.It's also the only game I know so far that supports both DX9,10 & 11.

84

Pretty sandbox with a lot of pretty explosions

Just Cause 2 is a fun open-world game featuring a Hispanic agent who loves to wreak havoc using his grappling hook, stunt maneuvers, and whatever else he can get his hands on to make stuff go "boom", which you’ll be doing a lot to mostly random targets, as the storyline missions aren’t quite as engaging as the rest of the game.
Being a DirectX 10-only game makes it look particularly gorgeous even on medium settings, letting you enjoy on what might be the biggest single area ever seen.

86

Pretty good RTS

Retribution is the 3rd entry in the Dawn of War II series, an RTS based on the very popular Warhammer 40k tabletop game. The gameplay is pretty similar to Company of heroes, where unit management is the focus instead of base building with each faction having 3 unique heroes.
This latest standalone expansion adds an entire new race (Imperial Guard) a new campaign where you can play as any of the 6 existing races that you can also play in co-op, and the switch from "Games For Windows Live" to Steamworks, while including all of the previous game's MP content, meaning that for MP, Retribution is all you need for the complete experience.

84

A decent TD romp with a lot of charm

Unstoppable Gorg is yet another entry in the “Tower Defense” genre. However, it employs one neat gimmick in its gameplay: The ability to rotate orbits a tower is placed in, making the gameplay a more active effort instead of a “place & forget” a lot of other TD games tend to be.
The game also employs a pretty unique theme, setting it as a cheesy alien sci-fi movie from the 50’s.The movies are particularly great, perfectly emulating said movies, including old goofs (like visible strings on the alien ships).
The game could’ve used more content, but with 6 difficulty modes and a survival mode, there’s still a lot of fun to be found here!

94

One of Last Year's greatest indie

An ARPG reminiscent of the old PSX games (but HD-fied,ofc).Art is fantastic, soundtrack is amazing, gameplay easy to learn, not as easy to master, switchable control schemes with rebind able keys, and what could’ve turned into the game's gimmick, the narrator, ends up being one of it's greatest strengths. He has an awesome gruff voice, never repeats his lines on one playthrough, and his lines are short, but contextual to the situation at hand, guaranteeing that the story is told without interruption or distractions.
Game Is rather short though, lasting between 4 to 6 hours on first playthrough, but with the inclusion of a New Game + mode (where you keep almost everything, and get a few extra toys too), as well as several selectable handicaps to increase the difficulty for greater rewards, the post-game content should be enough to keep it going for a while longer, if you so desire.

86

Pretty great,over the top fun

If you ever imagined if GTA4 had been goofier than San Andreas instead of way more serious, then you have a pretty good idea of what Saints Row is. The third installment starts improving on the second right starting with being an internal PC port instead of a shoddy third party port from a shady Eastern Europe developer. Storyline wise, it feels a bit weaker and disjointed in places, although the dialog is pretty well done ,and the missions themselves run from "decent" to "amazing" ,although I personally think there could've been a few more ,as well as the ability to repeat them.
Steelport does feel a bit duller than Stillwater, with less memorable places to visit, but you can still do a variety of things in it like escorting dealers, hookers and Tigers around; wreak havoc with your weapons or a tank, assassinate specific people, hijack specific cars, and other things.
The game sadly only has a co-op mode for multiplayer, but the game does everything in its power to accommodate both players, including changing activities and missions to fit both in, as in one example, making the second player the escorted hooker in the escort missions.

89

Worth buying if you're a fan

Slotted somewhere in the late part of the main game's storyline DXHR:The missing link is the first post-release DLC.The gameplay is pretty much DXHR:Condensed edition,with more of the same:multiple paths through either hacking,vent crawling or pure gunfighting in a smaller space,although at least the beginning of it is more biased towards stealth.
Storyline is pretty much again Deus Ex quality,with decent vo and a story that will fill a few baffling questions near the end of the main game,while leaving a few more questions open.
The DLC is sadly short,with a duration of 5-6 hours on average,and with the pricing asked for it (specially in dollars),it leaves this DLC in the "for fans" category,which is a shame,as the DLC obviously has high production values.

95

Worthy prequel to a cult classic

Human Revolution is the 3rd game in the Deus Ex series and Prequel to Deus Ex 1.
The game's approach in general is very faithful to the original,with many alternate paths for your objectives and ways to complete them.
Augmentations wise,there's a decent variety,although ,in my opinion,they could've added a few more.A few of the augments are situational or flat out useless,and by the end,depending on how you play,you can end up with most of them unlocked anyways,which kinda defeats the whole point...
Dialog is pretty good,although the voice acting can be a bit iffy (don't get me started with Zeke or Letitia) and dialog choices,unlike Mass Effect or Alpha Protocol,actually tell you what Adam's about to say,so you're never misled into saying something you don't want.
Graphics wise,it's very good,although some animations are stiff as hell and a few level backgrounds are so low-def can they can be flat-out jarring.
PC port is pretty good.Has all the expected features such as graphical settings,fully remapable keys and Field-of-View ,as well as a few bells & whistles such as DX11 and 3D support.
All said,it's still one of the best experiences of 2011

90

One of the best Indie games of this year

An ARPG reminiscent of some old PSX games (but HD-fied,ofc). Art is fantastic,soundtrack is amazing,gameplay easy to learn,not as easy to master,switchable control schemes with rebindable keys,and what could've turned into the game's gimmick,the narrator,ends up being one of it's greatest strengths.He has an awesome gruff voice, never repeats his lines on one playthrough,and his lines are short,but contextual to the situation at hand,guaranteeing that the story is told without interruption or distractions.
Game Is rather short though,lasting between 4 to 6 hours on first playthrough,but with the inclusion of a New Game + mode(where you keep almost everything,and get a few extra toys too),as well as several selectable handicaps to increase the difficulty for greater rewards,the post game content should be enough to keep it going for a while longer,if you so desire.
To sum it up,Bastion is definitely one of,if not THE,greatest indie game coming out this year.Definitely worth the asking price.

73

A great spy story marred by technical and gameplay problems

Alpha protocol's story is possibly one of the best I've seen when it comes to spy games/movies.Complex,but not confusing that rewards multiple playthroughs.The dialogue also follows through,as it's well written and it's mass effect-esque dialogue branch can keep multiple playthroughs fresh.Unfortunatelly,it also has the same problem as mass effect,as a few choices you make might actually mislead you and have unintended results(like negatively affecting your stance with a character).Sadly in true Obsidian fashion,the game,while not a complete disaster on the technical side,leaves a lot to be desired.Slowdowns on midrange machines,serious glitches and some serious gameplay problems stain what could've been a trully great spy game.